Themes1. Multipart music practices as creative processesHow can creative processes in multipart music making be recognized? How do the acts of performance, interpretation and local discourse give shape to them? How can individual, collective and collaborative dimensions, which are so essential for multipart music practices, be defined in this context? How and to what extent do they determine transmission processes? Dealing with these and other questions emerging from the elaboration of diverse investigation tools, the aim is to initiate a discussion on local and global understandings of musical creativity, exploring various methodologies and theoretical approaches.

2. Multipart music in religious practicesThis theme provides an opportunity for elaboration on sources related to discussions and statements about multipart music, mainly from a theological perspective in the past and the present. Presentations related to multipart music in different religious practices which highlight the diversity of the roles, powers, symbolism, meanings and values given to multipart music in specific cultures and their religious rituals are especially welcome. Mutual influences between religious and secular music practices as part of transformation processes are also of significance for the discussion.

3. Multipart music awardedIn public discussions, the awards given at public presentations of local music and dance (such as at folklore festivals) are often connected not only with the performers, but also with a ‘ranking’ of local repertoires. Multipart music repertoires are significant in this context because of their remarkable influence on the establishment of local cultural distinctiveness. Similar situations are apparent in the cases of inclusion of a number of multipart music repertoires in UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List. Some of the questions to be discussed in this context are: What does an award mean for the performers and the communities practising the repertoire? What does it mean for communities who practice other repertoires? Does an award influence everyday practice? What is the role of the ethnomusicologists in this context?